1. Technical Filed of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conveyor belt for conveying goods in solid or liquid state, said conveyor belt comprising a goods-carrying endless element made of an elastic material, and a single belt-supporting wire which is fixedly connected to one lateral edge of the endless element.
2. Prior Art
There are prior-art conveyor belts comprising a goods-supporting endless element, which is made of an elastic material and on which one or more force-absorbing wires are arranged. This wire or these wires is/are intended for guiding and supporting the conveyor belt by means of rollers, which determine the path of the conveyor belt. Owing to the elastic material of the conveyor belt, this type of conveyor belt requires a high flexibility, which, for instance, facilitates the manufacture of belt conveyors with a plurality of changes of direction along the conveying path.
United Kingdom Patent No. GB-A-2,205,543 discloses e.g. a conveyor belt, which comprises a goods-carrying endless element made of an elastic material, and a single belt-supporting wire which is arranged along one lateral edge of the endless element. The other lateral edge of the endless element is pre-bent to allow it to be hooked over said one lateral edge of the endless element with a force-absorbing wire. This results in a closed space for conveyance of goods. This known construction requires a great distance between the support rollers and unhooking of the other lateral edge from the force-absorbing wire to allow emptying of the goods. The loading and emptying procedure will thus be complicated in this known type of conveyor belt.